Riecks v. Indep. Sch. Dist. of Danbury, 42483.
| Decision Date | 11 December 1934 |
| Docket Number | No. 42483.,42483. |
| Citation | 219 Iowa 101,257 N.W. 546 |
| Parties | RIECKS v. INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DIST. OF DANBURY. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Appeal from District Court, Woodbury County; Robert H. Munger, Judge.
Action at law in the name of the father of three minor children against the Independent School District of Danbury to recover the reasonable value of services alleged to have been performed by the transportation of his said minor children from his residence to the school in Danbury, a distance of more than two miles. Judgment as prayed, and the defendant appeals.
Affirmed.
Weir Murphy, of Sioux City, for appellant.
O. P. Bennett, of Mapleton, and C. E. Wittenmeyer, of Davenport, for appellee.
The most difficult problem presented upon this appeal is the interpretation of the record before us. A jury was waived and the cause tried to the court upon a stipulation of facts. It appears from such stipulation that appellee resides upon a farm something over two miles from the school located in the town of Danbury, and that he is the father of three children of school age. The rural school near which he resides was closed and the next nearest public school is the school maintained in the town of Danbury.
The answer admits all of the allegations of the petition, except it denies that appellee is entitled to recover compensation at the rate of $1 per day for each day that he transported his children to the Danbury school. It is, however, stipulated that the compensation claimed is reasonable.
The right of appellant to maintain this action is challenged only upon the theory that the district court was without jurisdiction of the subject-matter, and this for the reason that appellee's sole remedy, if any, was by appeal from the decision of the board of the appellant district to the county superintendent.
[1] The duty of school boards to provide transportation for children of school age to and from school is purely statutory and, of course, is limited by the terms of such statute. In the absence of statute, no such duty would exist. We must, therefore, look to the statute to ascertain just what the duty of the appellant with reference to the transportation of appellee's children in this case was. We assume that appellant is not a consolidated independent school district.
It is provided, however, by section 4231 of the Code of 1931, that no contract shall be entered into with any teacher to teach a school when the average daily attendance for the last preceding term was less than five resident pupils of school age. It is provided by the succeeding section (4232) that, if a school be closed for lack of pupils, the board of such school corporation shall provide for the instruction of the pupils of said school as convenient as may be, and shall pay to the secretary of such school corporation to which such pupils are sent the average cost of tuition. Section 4233, which deals with the subject of transportation in such cases is as follows: “In all districts where school has been closed as provided in the preceding section, transportation shall be provided as in consolidated districts for any child residing more than two miles from the nearest school, or the board may allow to the parent or guardian of such child a reasonable sum for transporting him to and from school, but in exceptional cases the county superintendent may require the transportation of children for a less distance.”
[2] A question is raised in this case as to whether the children of appellee resided more than two miles from the Danbury school. The stipulation we deem conclusive on this point. The distance which appellee's children would be compelled to travel from their home to Danbury was slightly in excess of two miles. Prior to the rendition of the services for which appellee demands compensation, a request was presented to the board of appellant district for the transportation of his children to school. The request merely recited that the rural school near which he resided was closed. Nothing is said therein as to the reason for the school being closed. Such is the allegation of the petition which was not attacked by motion or demurrer. It is, of course, obvious that no duty rested upon appellant to provide transportation to school for children to appellee unless such school was closed for the reason specified in section 4232, that is, because of the lack of pupils. This is true, notwithstanding other statutory provisions requiring transportation, such as sections 4181, 4375, and 4376 of the Code. The record in this case does not in terms disclose that the rural school near which appellee resided was closed because it did not have the required number of resident pupils.
[3] The obscurity with which the propositions relied upon by appellant for reversal are surrounded leaves the court in doubt as to whether or not the sufficiency of the showing made under the foregoing statute is challenged by him. Apparently, the reliance of appellant for reversal is predicated wholly upon the proposition that appellee's remedy, if any, was by appeal to the county superintendent from the refusal of the board of appellant school district to provide transportation for his children, and that the district court was, for this reason, without jurisdiction of the action to recover the alleged reasonable value of the services alleged to have been performed by him in transporting his children to school. If it be assumed that the school near which appellee resided was closed for the reasons provided by the statute, then the duty of the district in which he resided to provide transportation for his children of school age would seem quite clearly to be mandatory. The duty in such case imposed upon the district in which the school has been closed for lack of pupils is to provide transportation as in the case of consolidated districts.
[4] The board may perform this duty by providing facilities of its own for the transportation of pupils residing more...
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